February 20, 2026 | 11:40 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Israel tightened restrictions on the number of Palestinian worshipers from the West Bank seeking to enter East Jerusalem to perform the first Friday prayer of Ramadan at Al-Aqsa Mosque, implementing strict measures and requiring prior security approval.
Hundreds of Palestinian residents gathered in the morning at military checkpoints around Jerusalem to reach the mosque. However, Israeli forces barred most of them from entering, despite some having previously issued permits, a correspondent for Anadolu reported.
Furthermore, Israeli soldiers deployed a large number of forces at the checkpoint towards the city, with senior military officers present and strict security measures in place.
“Thousands of West Bank residents are crowded at the Qalandiya checkpoint, and the occupation authorities are refusing to allow them to enter on the grounds that the permitted number for Friday, set at 10,000 people, has been reached,” the Palestinian Jerusalem Governorate said in a brief statement.
Israel tightened its grip on the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, with the beginning of Ramadan on Wednesday.
In recent weeks, Israeli authorities have stepped up arrests and expulsion orders in East Jerusalem ahead of Ramadan, according to a Palestinian human rights organization.
Palestinian residents consider East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state, citing international resolutions that do not recognize Israel's occupation of the city in 1967 or its annexation in 1980.
Since the genocidal war in Gaza began in October 2023, the Israeli military and illegal settlers have intensified operations throughout the West Bank, including Jerusalem, by carrying out killings, demolishing homes, expelling Palestinian residents, and expanding illegal settlements.
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